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Rating: 
Summary: I can't live without it!
Review: I have been using GoMac for over a year and I absolutely love it. It puts a customizable Windows-like task bar on the bottom of your screen which is much smaller and much less intrusive than the MacOS Control Strip. But what I really love about this product is the "hide" feature. You can hide the task bar and have it appear only when you move your mouse over the area, but more importantly, it lets you "Hide Programs After Switch." That means that when you switch between programs (using the mouse or keyboard) the other open program becomes completely invisible! No more floating title bars! Imagine: You can open several programs yet keep your screen tidy without having to constantly minimize. It's so awesome! Once you use this software, you won't be able to live without it.
Rating:
Summary: Clever. The one worthwhile Windows tool missing on the Mac.
Review: I've been using this desktop navigation utility ever since it first appeared about 5 or 6 years ago, as a ten-buck shareware application, when the most up-to-date Mac OS was OS 7.6.
What is it? Action GoMac provides a Windows-like "Start" button, located precisely where you would expect a Start button to be if you were a Windows user. In this respect, GoMac is "more than useful" for Windows users acclimating themselves to the Mac OS for the first time. But it gets better.
GoMac is a Start button on steroids. Like the Windows version, it provides a Start Menu for navigation through folders and files, a QuickLaunch toolbar across the bottom of the screen where files and applications can be launched with single clicks and files can be "dragged and dropped" for opening, application buttons showing which applications are currently running, and, on the far right, a Clock Tray (including a pop-up calendar). The application buttons can be toggled either by mouse action or they can be tabbed through. A preference is provided for which only the active application (and its files) is open on the screen; alternately, all open applications and files can appear in separate windows if desired. An "Auto Hide" feature can be selected so that the GoMac bar disappears except when the cursor is over it. (Otherwise, one is left with the usual "Windows clutter.")
The "steroids" enter the picture by way of the total flexibility with which the Start Menu and the QuickLaunch features can be programmed and arranged. Virtually anything - application, file, control panel, driver - can be placed in either location, providing unlimited flexibility and personalization. In most respects, the Start Menu is both more flexible and easier to customize than the Apple Menu. Even the appearance and size of the Start button itself can be personalized.
Here are a few good ideas that I've discovered, applying to my own method of operation and, possibly, to yours as well:
I put the TC/ICP control panel on the QuickLaunch toolbar. This way, I don't need to go searching for it in the control panels folder should I need to change my Internet connection (either because I'm travelling or because I've suddenly lost either my cable modem service or my phone service).
I put the "Add Alias to Apple Menu" AppleScript icon there as well, giving me "drag and drop" ability to quickly add to the Apple Menu. (Anything may be added to the Start menu by simply dropping it on the Start button.)
I put the Finder icon in the Clock Tray, freeing up space for other application buttons.
Now, in 2002, I'm running OS 9.2.2 on a Powerbook G4, which, with its huge 1152 x 768-pixel display, makes GoMac even more useful. Routinely, I'll have more than two dozen icons in the QuickLaunch toolbar and four or more applications open, with that many toggle buttons showing; the extra-large display certainly helps in this respect
Finally, despite the fact that GoMac has been - for about a year or so - a commercial application at a higher-than-shareware price, it is still a bargain, in terms of what it adds to any Mac running in "Classic" environment.
Users of Mac OS X have entirely different means for navigation, so my comments will not apply to them. But, if you're not on OS X, this utility is well worth your consideration.
Bob Zeidler
Rating:
Summary: Clever. The one worthwhile Windows tool missing on the Mac.
Review: I've been using this desktop navigation utility ever since it first appeared about 5 or 6 years ago, as a ten-buck shareware application, when the most up-to-date Mac OS was OS 7.6. What is it? Action GoMac provides a Windows-like "Start" button, located precisely where you would expect a Start button to be if you were a Windows user. In this respect, GoMac is "more than useful" for Windows users acclimating themselves to the Mac OS for the first time. But it gets better. GoMac is a Start button on steroids. Like the Windows version, it provides a Start Menu for navigation through folders and files, a QuickLaunch toolbar across the bottom of the screen where files and applications can be launched with single clicks and files can be "dragged and dropped" for opening, application buttons showing which applications are currently running, and, on the far right, a Clock Tray (including a pop-up calendar). The application buttons can be toggled either by mouse action or they can be tabbed through. A preference is provided for which only the active application (and its files) is open on the screen; alternately, all open applications and files can appear in separate windows if desired. An "Auto Hide" feature can be selected so that the GoMac bar disappears except when the cursor is over it. (Otherwise, one is left with the usual "Windows clutter.") The "steroids" enter the picture by way of the total flexibility with which the Start Menu and the QuickLaunch features can be programmed and arranged. Virtually anything - application, file, control panel, driver - can be placed in either location, providing unlimited flexibility and personalization. In most respects, the Start Menu is both more flexible and easier to customize than the Apple Menu. Even the appearance and size of the Start button itself can be personalized. Here are a few good ideas that I've discovered, applying to my own method of operation and, possibly, to yours as well: I put the TC/ICP control panel on the QuickLaunch toolbar. This way, I don't need to go searching for it in the control panels folder should I need to change my Internet connection (either because I'm travelling or because I've suddenly lost either my cable modem service or my phone service). I put the "Add Alias to Apple Menu" AppleScript icon there as well, giving me "drag and drop" ability to quickly add to the Apple Menu. (Anything may be added to the Start menu by simply dropping it on the Start button.) I put the Finder icon in the Clock Tray, freeing up space for other application buttons. Now, in 2002, I'm running OS 9.2.2 on a Powerbook G4, which, with its huge 1152 x 768-pixel display, makes GoMac even more useful. Routinely, I'll have more than two dozen icons in the QuickLaunch toolbar and four or more applications open, with that many toggle buttons showing; the extra-large display certainly helps in this respect Finally, despite the fact that GoMac has been - for about a year or so - a commercial application at a higher-than-shareware price, it is still a bargain, in terms of what it adds to any Mac running in "Classic" environment. Users of Mac OS X have entirely different means for navigation, so my comments will not apply to them. But, if you're not on OS X, this utility is well worth your consideration.
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